Family Ties
by KJ
Summary: Rocky has always had such a strong bond with his family, but now because of their beliefs he feels forced to choose between them and his girlfriend.


**Authors Note:** This is the next story in the Ranger Scrolls series. I owe much thanks to Lori for the plot outline to this story. She came up with it and I had fun running with it.

Power Rangers Zeo  
"Family Ties"

It was a quiet mid October afternoon as Katherine Hillard sat in her parents den working on putting together pieces for the holiday dance recital they were going to do that year. She knew she had a lot to do if she was going to prepare her classes in time, especially the little ones. Kat paused and put her pen down and stretched. She had been staring at this stuff all afternoon, and she still had a project she needed to work on as well as some things to take care of for student council. At least it was fall break and she would actually have time to get it done.

Kat took a second to refocus her energy and went back to work. She didn't get too much farther into it before she heard the front door slam and female voices calling out hello. She dropped her pen and headed out toward the living room, then smiled at the two girls standing there. "Kim, Carri, hey!", she greeted as she gave each girl a hug

Kimberly Heart and Carri Hillard returned her hugs and smiled at her. They had left after class and come back to Angel Grove for a few days during their fall break. They were glad to be back, especially Carri since she had mended her relationship with her cousin. They had been speaking the past few months and Kat had even come up to LA two weeks earlier for Carri's twentieth birthday bash.

"You guys got here earlier than I expected.", Kat said as she took a step back and looked at the two girls standing in front of her

Kim smiled and pointed to Carri. "She drove."

Carri laughed as she started to walk her duffle bag towards the stairs. "That may be so, but we did leave earlier than expected.", she replied as she dropped the bag at the foot of the stairs

"What too lazy to go all the way up?", Kat asked as she smiled at her cousin

"At the moment, yes.", Carri answered. The yellow ranger then went to sit down on the couch and motioned for her cousin and her friend to come join her. Kat came and sat down, and Kim dropped her bag by the stairs before sitting down as well.

"So how have you been?", Kim asked as she smiled at Kat

"Keeping busy with school, student government and ballet.", Kat replied. "And of course Chris when we get to see each other.", she added

"I ran into him the other day. I'm glad to see he took those silly braids out of his hair.", Carri told her as she grinned at her

Kat laughed. "Yes well I've been pressuring him to do that for quite some time. It was getting a bit on the mangy end."

"Getting? I would so say got. And mangy is the nice word for it.", Carri said as she started to giggle

"Enough already.", Kat said although she still had a smile on her face. "Tell me about you guys. Your boys and school and all that."

Kim and Carri looked at each other and smiled. "The boys are well, you know, the boys. Some days they're great and others they drive us crazy. School is as boring and tedious as ever. And besides shopping and beach going, rangering is really what's keeping us busy.", Kim finished as she smiled at Kat. "So busy, that this one is secretly working on a plan to invade the Lunar Palace and take out Rita and Zedd on her own."

"It's going to work too. Jason seems to think I have a few screws loose but one day I'm going to invade the Lunar Palace and take them out and then we'll see who's crazy.", Carri said as she saw the strange glance Kat was giving her. She kept a serious look on her face for a moment as she watched Kat look at her with concern, then she smiled at her cousin. She wasn't really going to invade the Lunar Palace, but she had thought about it and had a few late night after fight conversations with Jason and Kim about how she'd do it.

Kat smiled when she realized her cousin wasn't serious. That would be suicide and even she knew better. "I'm glad to see that you're not really crazy. Well at least suicidal crazy." She paused and looked at the two girls who both seemed to be overflowing with energy. She couldn't believe that all that and they could still be going. It used to wear her out. She smiled at the two girls sitting beside her. "So when are we going to hang out this weekend?"

"Not tonight. I have a picnic planned at Angel Grove Lake.", Carri said with a smile

"You've been back for twenty minutes and already you're off to the lake.", Kat said as she smiled back at her

Carri shrugged. "What can I say. I may have beaches in LA, but there is definitely no lake. At least, nothing that would compare to Angel Grove Lake.", she replied

"I know I don't know how many romantic interludes Tommy and I had at the lake before I left.", Kim agreed with her friend

Kat was about to say me too but she held her tongue. It's not like Kim would think that Kat and Tommy never enjoyed Angel Grove Lake together, but it still seemed kind of weird talking about it in front of her. Chris hadn't taken her up to Angel Grove Lake yet, but that was something she would have to change in the future. "Ok so not tonight,", she said going back into the conversation with the girls, "so when?"

"Let's start by going out tomorrow afternoon. It would be fun. We could make it a girls afternoon.", Kim suggested

Carri smiled at her friend as she asked the next question, although she was pretty sure she knew the answer. "Not a girls day?"

"I don't think Tommy would appreciate you two eating dinner with us.", Kim replied with a grin. "Not that he doesn't like you or anything, but you're not me."

"Thank goodness for that.", Kat said as she pretended to let out a sigh of relief. Kim pretended to be insulted then the two girls smiled.

"Well," Carri started as she slowly got up off the couch and headed towards the stairs, "I think I'm going to get my stuff put up and start getting ready for later."

Kim stood up as well and made her way to the stairs. "I think I'm going to put my things away too.", she said as she grabbed her bags

Kat smiled and watched as the two girls took off upstairs. She then got up as well and went back into the den, picking up her pen and trying to do some more work on the recital.

* * *

Isabelle DeSantos stood in her kitchen fixing dinner for her family, which that night would include her oldest son who was coming home from college. She was excited to have him there, and in honor of that she was fixing his favorite meal. She smiled as she continued to cook. After some time had passed, she could hear the front door shut and some of the littler children squeal with delight. A few seconds later her son emerged with one of the younger girls on his back and the other in his arms, with her youngest son trailing close behind.

Rocky DeSantos smiled and put his baby sister down, and pried his middle sister off his back. "Hi mom.", he said as he greeted his mother with a kiss. Rocky stopped and smelled the air. "It smells nice in here.", he said with a smile. His mother didn't reply and just smiled back at him. "Where's the rest of the clan?", he asked

"Matthew is at soccer practice, Christina is with her friends at the mall," Mrs. DeSantos paused as she watched Rocky roll his eyes and smile, "and Johnny is skateboarding somewhere in the neighborhood."

Rocky smiled as he snuck a cookie from the cookie jar. "Then I guess I will catch up with them later.", he said as he turned and walked back out the kitchen. "I'll be upstairs.", he called as he walked off. Rocky picked up his bag and jogged up stairs, then walked into his room and shut the door throwing his things on his bed. He had some time before Carri was coming by and everything he needed for his picnic was in the backseat, except for the food which he was picking up on the way. Rocky decided to take that opportunity to relax on his old bed and watch TV.

A little over a half an hour later he heard the doorbell ring. He jumped off his bed and headed to the top of the stairs. He saw his littlest brother peak out the window then take off grinning. Rocky made a face as he headed down the stairs and opened the door. "Did he just...", Rocky let his voice trail off as he pointed in the direction in which his brother had run

Carri giggled. "Peak and run? Yeah he did."

"Don't worry he won't get away with it.", Rocky replied

She laughed as she stepped in and closed the door. "Don't worry. It's just silly little boys being silly little boys."

Rocky couldn't help but laugh with her as he pulled her close and gave her a kiss. He turned towards the kitchen and saw his mother looking at him half smiling. Carri turned to see what he was looking at and saw his mother standing there as well. "Hello Mrs. DeSantos.", she greeted

"Hello Carri.", his mother replied. "Are you joining us for dinner?"

Rocky smiled at his mother. "Actually mom, we have a date out on Angel Grove Lake for dinner.", he said as he smiled over at his girlfriend. "Are you ready to go?", he asked. She smiled and nodded. Rocky took her by the hand and led her to the door.

Carri waved as she stepped through the doorway. "It was nice seeing you again Mrs. DeSantos."

"Bye mom. I'll be back in a few hours.", Rocky said as he stepped through the doorway as well and disappeared

Mrs. DeSantos sighed as she went back to preparing dinner for the rest of her children.

* * *

After dinner was served and cleaned up, Mrs. DeSantos sat at her kitchen table with a cup of coffee in her hands. She had done all that work for dinner for her son, and he took off with his girlfriend. Which was rather disappointing. He saw her all the time at school and he couldn't have dinner with his family.

But they had been together two years, and that was usually a good foundation for relationships. Was Rocky that serious about her? She didn't think so in high school, but now she wasn't sure anymore.

As she was sitting there thinking, she heard a knock on the door. She got up to answer it and saw her best friend standing there. "Gabrielle, it is good to see you.", she said gesturing for her friend to come in. She led her to the kitchen and poured her a cup of coffee, then motioned for her to sit down.

Gabrielle Rodriguez sat down next to her best friend and neighbor as she took a sip of coffee. "So?", she questioned

"So what?", Mrs. DeSantos replied

"How was the dinner with your son that you've been looking forward to all week?", Gabrielle asked

Isabelle sighed and gripped her cup tightly as she leaned back in her seat. "He didn't stay for dinner, he went out with his girlfriend."

"Girlfriend?", she questioned

"Yes you've met her.", Isabelle replied

Gabrielle raised her eyebrow at that remark. "The same girl from high school?", she asked as her friend nodded. "It's been two years. Are they getting serious?", she asked

"I don't know. I haven't thought about it.", she replied as she paused. "But they are adults now, so maybe they are."

"And how do you feel about that?", Gabrielle asked

"Carri is nice and all...", Isabelle said letting her voice trail off

"But she's not exactly who you want your son to be serious with.", Gabrielle finished for her

Isabelle sighed and said nothing as she let Gabrielle continue her conversation. "I know what you've wanted for your son. A nice Catholic, Hispanic girl with strong family values. Not only is she not Catholic and not Hispanic, but she comes from a completely different family background with no apparent values. Any family that believes it's ok to send your daughter to the other side of the country and not see her obviously doesn't cherish their family too much to begin with. Not to mention she's taking him away from yours."

Isabelle frowned as she knew what her friend was saying was right. It was possible that her son wasn't serious about this girl and she could talk to him. Maybe get him to realize how wrong she is for him and how she is taking his attention away from his family.

* * *

Rocky awoke late from his slumber the next morning to the sounds of little kids running and screaming. He had spent a wonderful night with his girlfriend the night before, and had gotten in way too late. But it was all worth it, as it always was. He took a quick shower and got ready for his day. As he was about to go downstairs and see his family, his communicator went off.

The blue ranger sighed and answered it. Another monster attack in Angel Grove. He had to get there quickly. Rocky said he would be on his way as he ended his transmission. He couldn't just teleport from his room, he would have to run down stairs and leave so his mom would think he was gone.

Rocky quickly flew down the stairs and headed straight for the front door. "Rocky where are you going?", he heard his mother call

He stopped and smiled at her. "I'm going out. I'll be back soon.", he replied

She stepped out from the other room and looked at her son. "The kids wanted you to take them to the park.", she said as her three youngest stood there and looked at their older brother with puppy dog eyes

Rocky felt bad as he would enjoy taking the kids to the park. But with the world in danger, he didn't have that option. "I shouldn't be gone long. Then we can go.", he said as he walked out the front door and let it slam behind him Rocky ran around the house so he was out of view and morphed and teleported to the scene.

Kim turned in time to see Rocky attack the two tengas right before they blind sided her. "Took you long enough.", she said

"My mom stopped me.", he apologized

As he spoke, the yellow and green rangers flew past him in a blur as they hit the ground. Both Zeo's were quick to jump to their feet. "Next time make sure to tell her that if you don't leave right then you're friends could be literally dead.", Carri said as she eyed the monster

"This one tough?", Rocky asked as he jumped in front of some tengas and fought

"That's an understatement.", Jason Lee Scott replied as he and Carri ran back at the monster

Out of the corner of his eye, Rocky saw the red ranger kick Goldar backwards and turn to see him standing there. "Now that Rocky's here, let's finish these guys.", Tommy Oliver said hoping that finishing them off was exactly what they were going to do

Of course even the best laid plans don't work out sometimes as the rangers quickly found themselves forced to retreat and turn to Billy Cranston, Alpha and Zordon for help. Twice. A few hours later, they finally figured out how to bring Zedd and Rita's creation down and save Angel Grove yet again.

Rocky sighed as he teleported back home. All he wanted more than anything was to go stand in a nice hot shower. Every bone in his body ached. He walked inside the front door of the house and headed toward the stairs. His mother was quick to run out and greet him. "Rocky where were you?", she asked. "I was worried you said you wouldn't be gone long."

"I was," Rocky started not sure of how to answer that question, "I was with Carri. We must have lost track of time.", he said as he head up the stairs. Which wasn't totally a lie. He was with Carri and they really had no idea how long it took to defeat the monster.

Mrs. DeSantos sighed as she watched her son walk up the stairs. The kids were so excited that he was going to be able to take them to the park that day, and he ditched them for his girlfriend. She turned to go back to cooking dinner. She was hoping that her son was planning on spending some time with his family that night.

A little while later, Rocky came back down the stairs feeling refreshed. The fight left him drained, but the hot shower and some time to relax did him some good. He paused in the kitchen doorway to smile and wave at his mom, who smiled back at him. "Are you having dinner?", she asked as she heard a horn honk from the driveway

"Actually that's probably my ride. I'm going out for dinner.", he said as he smiled at his mom and walked over to give her a kiss

"What is your girlfriend to good to come in and say hello?", she asked as she shot him a look

"Of course not.", Rocky replied. "I think Jason's driving and he's probably being too impatient to wait for her to walk up here and get me.", Rocky said as he heard the honk again. "I gotta go mom.", he said as he took off out the front door to meet Jason, Emily and Carri to go out

Mrs. DeSantos frowned. Her son had walked out on his family twice in one day for his girlfriend. She felt like it was getting out of control. She was going to make it a point to stay up until he got home so she could talk to him. She quickly went back to fixing dinner to get her mind off of the situation at hand.

* * *

Rocky walked back into his mother's house around ten thirty that night. He was surprised to find her sitting on the couch watching TV. "Mom what are you still doing up?", he asked as he smiled at her

His mother smiled back and patted the seat next to her as she turned the TV off. "Sit down.", she said as she continued to smile

Rocky wasn't sure what his mother wanted with him as he walked over towards the couch and sat down next to her. "What's up?", he asked

"I wanted to," she paused not sure about how to approach the topic with her son, "I wanted to talk to you about your girlfriend.", she started. She stopped speaking to see what his reaction would be. Her son made a strange face but said nothing, so she continued. "Are you two getting serious?"

Rocky didn't hesitate to answer. "Yeah we've been together for two years now, of course we're getting serious. Why?", he asked his mother unsure if he wanted a response or not

"I think you're a bit young to be getting serious..."

"Mom come on, I'm almost twenty.", Rocky quickly said cutting his mother off

She flashed him a quick smile as she continued. "Not only are you too young to be serious, but are you sure she's the one for you?"

"What do you mean by that?", he asked getting defensive

"Well for starters don't you want to marry a nice Hispanic girl?", she asked. She saw her son was about to protest so she held up her finger to shush him. "We're Catholic. You are still Catholic aren't you?", she asked

"Of course.", Rocky replied

"So you know no sex, no spending the night with your girlfriend...", she let her voice trail off as she waited for her son's response

Rocky flashed his mother a comforting smile before he lied to her. "Of course not mom."

"And that also means no marring anyone who's not Catholic."

"Well..."

"Those aren't the only things.", she said as she stopped him before he could make a counterpoint. "What about family? A nice Hispanic girl would cherish family. And she keeps pulling you away from our family. What about us? What about your brothers and sisters who love you and want to spend time with you? Your girlfriend comes from a different kind of family, one that has no concept of what it means to be a family."

Rocky felt hurt to hear his mother speak poorly of his girlfriend, but at the same time she was right. Carri's not Catholic or Hispanic, and she comes from a completely different family background. He sighed as his mother smiled at him, then gave her son a kiss and told him to go on to bed.

He walked upstairs and quickly got ready for bed. As he climbed underneath the sheets, he found himself unable to go to sleep. He always thought his mom liked Carri and now all the sudden she doesn't. She was white, and Methodist if she ever went to church, and her family was the total opposite of his. But what did that matter to him? He never even thought of those things as obstacles.

Rocky sighed as he rolled over on his side. Apparently his mom thought of them as obstacles. Was she right? He didn't want her to be. He loves Carri, but he loves his mother and his family too. As crazy as their lives were, he never stopped to think about forever with Carri. But then, he couldn't see forever without her. But would it work? In a way he'd be excluding both his race and religion to be with her. But what about his family? He couldn't exclude them. But he didn't think he could support both his family and a future family with her. That was assuming he wanted a family. He did practically raise his brothers and sisters, and that was almost like being a dad. He wasn't sure how much he wanted to go through that again. But if he committed to her, she wouldn't think twice of starting fresh in another city. Not that she doesn't like his family, but her definition of family obligation is much different than that of his mothers.

Rocky tried hard to get some of those thoughts out of his head. He didn't need to, nor want to be thinking any of these things. The blue ranger laid in his bed trying hard to get to sleep and forget about some of the things his mother was saying.

* * *

Carri and Kim were sitting on the couch the next morning watching TV, while Kat was in the den trying to finish up some things for the next mornings dance class. Carri yawned and stretched. "So what do we want to do today?"

"Party.", Kim said with a smile. "Since we didn't get to hang out yesterday thanks to Rita and Zedd."

"I can't believe you were gone that long.", they heard Kat call from the next room

"Me neither.", Kim agreed

As Kim finished speaking there was a knock on the door. Carri smiled and hopped up to answer it. She was surprised to see her boyfriend standing there. "Hey baby.", she said as she leaned in and gave him a kiss. He gently pushed her back as he smiled at her. She was surprised but didn't let it phase her. "What are you doing here so early?"

"I dropped the kids off at the Y for class, and I thought I would come by. To talk.", he explained

"Come on in.", Carri said as she gestured for him to come in. Rocky stepped through the doorway as his girlfriend pointed toward the couch. "Have a seat."

Rocky smiled and waved to Kim, then turned toward his girlfriend. "Actually I was hoping we could talk in private."

Carri shot Kim a strange and confused look, before turning back to Rocky and smiling. "Sure, follow me.", she said as she took his hand and led him up the stairs. She walked into her room and sat on her bed. He followed behind her, shutting the door and sitting down as well. "So what's up?", she asked

"You see, it's just, my mom...", Rocky paused and looked down towards her comforter, not really knowing what to say or how to say it.

"Just spit it out.", Carri said as she could feel how uneasy he was about whatever it was he had come to say. Which made her slightly nervous, Rocky never had a problem telling her anything.

Rocky sighed and looked up at her. "You know I love you right?", he asked. She smiled and nodded her head yes. "It's just my mom made some good points last night. She's worried about us getting serious, and she thinks maybe you're not the one for me."

"That's absurd.", Carri said with disbelief

"Well it's just... you're not Hispanic, and you're not Catholic, and your family life, you're idea of family life is just so different from ours.", he explained

Carri stared at him for a second. "Is this your way of breaking up with me?", she asked fearing the answer

"Well, no, it's just that, well I wanted to let you know what she said.", Rocky said as he sighed

"If we love each other it shouldn't matter.", Carri pointed out

Rocky frowned. "I don't know yet if it matters or not.", he replied as he stood up. "Look I have to get back home. I promised my mom I would help with some things.", he said as he gave her a kiss on the forehead. "I love you and I'll talk to you later.", he said as he smiled at her and left the room.

Rocky left Carri on the bed floored by the entire conversation. She didn't know how to react, she just sat there trying to absorb what was going on. A few moments later, Kim and Kat appeared in her doorway. They saw the look on her face and they each took a seat next to her.

"What happened?", Kat asked as she put a hand on her cousin's back

"He didn't come up here to break your heart did he? Because I can get Tommy on the phone and have him kicking his ass in thirty minutes or less.", Kim joked with her friend

Kim got the smile out of Carri she was looking for as her friend finally responded. "You don't need to do that. At least not right now.", she replied

"So what did happen?", Kat asked repeating her question

Carri sighed and looked at her two friends. "All the sudden his mom, who I always thought liked me, thinks that we shouldn't be serious and he should find another girlfriend who's Hispanic, Catholic, and shares the same family life."

Kim frowned. "Well Rocky's not listening to her is he?"

"No. I mean I don't think so.", she replied. "I think he's conflicted. I hope he'll realize that his mom's concerns are just that. I mean my mom always wanted me to marry a rich white doctor but she's not getting that. His mom's not a threat to our relationship. At least I don't think he's going to let her be a threat to our relationship. He just needs to sort this all out and realize it's ok.", she said trying to comfort herself

"Maybe if you show him and his mom that you want to be a part of their family, his mom will like you more and it will make him feel better.", Kat said trying to come up with ideas

Kim nodded her head in agreement. "What if you could learn Spanish?", she suggested

Kat and Carri looked at each other and laughed. "High school Spanish was a total disaster.", Carri replied

"I wouldn't call it a disaster. You retained a few words and phrases.", Kat replied grinning

"Yeah just don't ask me to come up with major phrases or sentences. Especially stories. That I might have to repeat in front of the class.", she added

Kim smiled. "Ok so scratch the Spanish idea. What about cooking? His mom cherishes family, and she obviously loves to cook for her family. Why don't you cook for them?"

"That's a good idea.", Kat said getting excited. "We could help you find recipes and get ingredients."

"It's worth a try.", she said as she smiled at her two friends

"That's the spirit.", Kim encouraged her as she hopped off the bed. "Now I'm going to go get your phone and you're going to call Rocky and tell him that you're cooking for his family tonight."

Kim bounced out of the room and left Kat and Carri to discuss what was going to need to be done for Carri to cook for the DeSantos family.

* * *

Several hours later, Carri showed up at Rocky's front door with her hands full of grocery bags. "Hey.", she greeted Rocky as he opened the door

"Hey.", he replied back as he gave her a kiss. "It's cool that you're doing this.", Rocky told her. If she could make a good meal, that would certainly help get her in his mothers good graces. Maybe if she could prove she was worthy, and that she wanted to try and be what his mom wanted, that his mom would accept her. Rocky grabbed some bags out of his girlfriends hands and led her to the kitchen.

Carri forced herself to smile at Mrs. DeSantos, who was sitting at the kitchen table having a cup of coffee. "Hi Mrs. DeSantos, how are you?", she asked

"Fine.", she replied as she threw a fake smile back in her direction. "So you are cooking for us tonight?"

"That's the plan.", Carri replied as she started going through the grocery bags pulling stuff out

Rocky smiled at his girlfriend. "Do you need any help?", he asked

"I think I've got it but thank you.", she replied as she smiled back at him

"In that case I'll be upstairs.", Rocky said as he gave her a quick peck on the cheek and took off

Carri sighed as the peck on the cheek was strange and kind of distant. She was hoping that he would sort through everything and realize that his mother was being ridiculous and stop acting so odd. Carri tried to push some of those thoughts away as she started to rummage through the kitchen looking for pots and pans.

Twenty minutes later Carri was starting to really get into the cooking. She was rather annoyed by Mrs. DeSantos, who was on her second cup of coffee and still sitting at the kitchen table giving her the evil eye.

A few minutes later, Rocky's littlest sister Elizabeth came running into the kitchen in tears. She ran straight up to her mother with her finger held high and blood running down the side of it. "Sweety what happened?", Mrs. DeSantos asked as she picked her daughter up and put her in her lap

Elizabeth let out something incoherent between sobs and Mrs. DeSantos picked the little girl up and carried her to the bathroom. She got a band-aid on her finger and gave the little girl a kiss, then sent her off. As she walked back to the kitchen, she saw smoke pouring out. She ran back to see what was going on.

Carri was panicking from the little fire she started because she couldn't find the fire extinguisher. Just when she thought it couldn't get any worse, Mrs. DeSantos ran in and started cursing at her in Spanish. Some words she did remember learning from her Spanish speaking friends.

A few seconds later, Rocky came bursting through the kitchen. He quickly went and grabbed the fire extinguisher and put out the fire. He glared at his girlfriend, who looked rather pathetic as she stood there and apologized.

"Sorry doesn't cut it.", Mrs. DeSantos yelled. "You caused a fire in my house with my children running around.", she snapped. Carri was about to speak but Mrs. DeSantos cut her off. "What kind of woman are you that you can't even fix a simple dinner properly?", she asked as she stormed off

Carri held in the tears that she felt brimming after that last comment as she turned to clean up her mess. Rocky quickly grabbed her by the arm and spun her around. "Maybe you should leave.", he said to her. He was upset with her for ruining a perfectly good opportunity to be in his mothers good graces.

"What about the mess?", she asked as she looked around the kitchen

"I'll clean it up.", Rocky said as he turned away from her and started to work on the kitchen

Carri said nothing as she snatched her keys and took off out the front door. She barley made it out of the house before the tears started to flow. She quickly climbed into the drivers seat of her car and took off. The trip home was short, and she was thankful for that. As soon as she rolled in the driveway, she got out of the car slamming the door behind her. She flung the front door open and ran by Tommy and Kim, flying up the stairs and into her room slamming the door behind her.

"That can't be good.", Kim said as she watched her friend taking off in anger

Tommy nodded in agreement with his girlfriend as he paused the movie they were watching. "You want to go up there?", he asked her

She smiled at Tommy and gave him a kiss as she took off towards the stars. When she reached Carri's bedroom, she knocked softly then opened the door. "Hey.", she greeted

Carri said nothing as she curled up on her bed. Kim smiled at her and sat down next to her. "What happened?", she asked

"It was a disaster.", Carri told her

"I'm sure it wasn't that bad."

Carri shot her a look. "I started a fire and Mrs. DeSantos told me I was worthless as a woman. Then Rocky threw me out."

"I'm sure nobody meant anything by it.", Kim said trying to comfort her friend

"That's easy for you to say.", Carri said as she rolled onto her back and scooted up so she was leaning against the headboard. "He's been acting so weird all day. One minute he acts like he loves me and the next I wonder if he wants to dump me."

"Don't talk like that.", Kim said as she scooted up next to her friend and gave her a hug. "He doesn't want to dump you."

"I'm not so sure about that.", Carri said as she took a deep breath and forced the tears back that were coming. "What if he thinks his mom is right? She pointed out all our major differences. And you know, she is right about that stuff.", Carri said. She paused for a moment before she continued on. "And to be quite honest, what do we have in common besides the fact that we're both zeo rangers?"

"And ninjetti's. Don't forget about ninjetti's.", Kim said trying to get her to smile

Carri half smiled and rolled her eyes. "You know what I mean."

"You both have a passion for baseball. And you've both taken karate.", Kim pointed out

"Baseball I'll give you, but karate I took as self defense. He took it to be good at it.", she replied

Kim sighed. She knew she could be there all night trying to pull out things they have in common. "I know you have a lot of differences, but you guys have been together two years and it's never mattered before."

"But what happens when college is over and our calling as rangers is done. What commonalities do we share then?", Carri asked as she looked over at her friend

"You'll still have your love for each other.", Kim told her as she smiled at her friend

Carri frowned. "I'm starting to wonder if that counts for anything any more."

Kim leaned over and gave her friend another hug. She pulled back from her and smiled at her. "Hey, why don't you come down and watch movies with me and Tommy?", she suggested. Carri shook her head no. "Well if you don't want to come down, I've got pizza down there. Let me bring you some up."

"No I'm fine. I think I'm just going to sit in here and sulk for a while.", Carri said as she smiled at her friend

Kim frowned as she hated seeing Carri that way. But Carri could be just as stubborn as Tommy, and she knew she wasn't going to get anywhere that way. "Fine but if you change your mind let me know."

"Thanks Kim.", Carri said as her friend got off of her bed and headed for the door. Carri watched as Kim left the room, then she curled back up on her bed and turned on the TV.

* * *

The next morning Rocky met Tommy and Jason at the Youth Center as he did every Saturday morning. After they finished sparring, they walked over to a table and sat down, getting something to drink.

Tommy pushed his glass around for a moment before he paused and looked up at Rocky. "So what's going on between you and Carri? Kim said she was upset and questioning your relationship last night."

Jason looked at his best friend. This was the first he had heard of that. Rooming with the girls he was always in on everything, and being home for fall break he was out of the loop. He didn't say anything as he glanced toward Rocky waiting for an answer.

"It's just... well my mom was saying that we were getting to serious and I shouldn't get serious with her.", Rocky started

"Why not?", asked Jason in disbelief

"Because she's not Hispanic or Catholic and she doesn't come from the same type of family.", Rocky explained his mother's logic

"Yeah but that's never mattered before.", Tommy pointed out

"I never thought about it before.", Rocky replied

"You love her don't you?", Jason asked as Rocky nodded his head yes. "Then why should it matter?"

Rocky sighed as he started to answer. "Because I love her and my family. And my mom seems to think I can't have both.", Rocky said as he looked at the two boys sitting at the table with him. "And I started thinking that even though those are major differences, we have a lot of minor differences too. How much do we share outside of, well you know.", Rocky said as he glanced at his wrist

"Plenty.", Tommy told him. "And I don't think you should give up your relationship based on what your mother thinks."

"I'm not giving it up. At least I don't want to give it up.", Rocky said as he paused. "There's just a lot going on right now and I'm not sure what I'm going to do."

Jason and Tommy glanced at each other as Rocky looked down at his watch. "I've got to go to work.", he said as he jumped up and took off

"You think that was his way of avoiding the questions?", Jason asked as he watched the blue ranger take off out the front door

"Sure seems that way.", Tommy replied

Jason stood up and looked over at the mats. "You want to go again?", he asked. Tommy nodded in response and both boys went back over and hit the mats.

* * *

Around lunchtime that day, Kim was sitting in the kitchen of the Hillard's household. She had just gotten done finishing explaining to Kat what had happened the night before.

"So she's still up there in bed?", asked Kat

"As far as I know.", Kim replied

Kat sighed. "We've got to get her up and out. I've got another class to teach this afternoon, but maybe you can get her doing something then and we can all hang out tonight."

"But what about her and Rocky?", Kim asked as she glanced over at Kat. "She's not going to want to do anything given the situation she's in."

Kat stood in the kitchen and tapped her foot for a moment before it hit her. "I have an idea.", she said smiling. Kim urged her to go on. "What if she goes to church with his family tomorrow morning? Being Catholic is obviously a huge part of who his mother is. And what can possibly go wrong at church?"

"That's a great idea.", Kim said as she stood up. "Come on, let's go get her."

The two girls bounced up the stairs. Kim opened the door to Carri's room without bothering to knock. They saw her curled up in the middle of the bed. She opened her eyes to look at them just as they jumped into the bed next to her. "Alright girl time to get up.", Kat said as she started to throw the covers back

"There's not too much to be excited about.", Carri pointed out as she reached for her covers

Kim swatted her hand away. "Yes there is. Kat just had a great idea."

"Listen do you want to prove to Rocky and his mother that you can be the woman he wants?", Kat asked as he cousin nodded her head yes. "Go to church with them tomorrow morning. Nothing could happen at church. It would be a nice gesture for his mother to see that you care and you're trying."

Carri thought for a moment then she sat up. "You know, that might actually work.", she said as she smiled at her cousin

"That's the spirit.", Kat replied smiling back at her

"And Kat is off to dance class in a few, and you're going to take a shower and you and I are off to the mall.", Kim said trying to continue to keep her friends spirit up

"Then afterwards the three of us can go to dinner and a move.", Kat said continuing on the positive note

"Sounds like a plan.", Carri said. She smiled at the two girls and pulled them in for a hug. "Thanks.", she said

"Anytime.", Kim replied

Carri smiled at the two girls before she pushed them both away. "Now if you want me up and dressed, you'll have to leave."

"But of course.", Kat said as she and Kim smiled and left the room

Carri got up and stretched before she grabbed her phone. She called Rocky and left him a message telling him that she'd like to go to church with his family. As she hung up the phone, she quickly threw her clothes off and jumped in the shower, getting ready for what might actually be a good day.

* * *

The next morning Carri stood in front of the mirror. She had tried on several different outfits trying to find the perfect one to wear to church. She felt somewhat satisfied as she went downstairs, grabbing her things and shoving them into her purse. She smiled and said goodbye to Kim and Kat as she took off for Rocky's house.

She pulled into the driveway, then got out and went and knocked on the door. "You look nice.", Rocky complemented her as he opened the door to find her standing there

"Thank you.", she said as she smiled at him

Rocky took her hand and led her to the car, as all of his family was loading up and getting ready to go. Their church wasn't far from the house, and it only took a few minutes to get there. When they arrived they walked inside and all found a place to sit.

Carri took a deep breath as her nerves kicked in. She had never been to a Catholic service before. As she sat back and tried to relax, she heard a noise come from her purse. She sat straight up as she cursed under her breath and looked for her phone. She could see Mrs. DeSantos shoot her a look and mutter some phrases to Rocky. Carri hit ignore on Jason's call then quickly put her phone on silent. And Kat had wondered what could go wrong.

She smiled at Rocky's family and sat back as the service started. A few minutes into the service, her communicator went off. She got another, even dirtier look from Rocky's mom as she whispered something in his ear. It wouldn't take a genius to guess what she was saying. Carri glanced at Rocky, who shrugged his shoulders. His mom would kill him if he left the service with his girlfriend. She shot him a look and he turned to whisper to her. "Let me know if you need me.", he said

Carri sighed and got up and walked off just as her communicator went off again. Mrs. DeSantos was furious with her and was happy to see her leave to take care of her phone calls. Carri walked into a secluded area and held her communicator up to her mouth. "What's up?", she asked

"The guys are under attack and they need help.", Billy replied

"Right. I'm on my way." she said as she looked around to make sure the coast was clear

"It's morphin time!", she yelled. "Zeo ranger II, yellow!"

And just like that the yellow zeo ranger was on the scene. "Where's Rocky?", Tommy asked as he glanced at her

"In church with his family.", Carri replied. "Don't bother him. I'm not sure if he'll ditch and come with us anyway."

"If we need him...", Tommy said his voice trailing off

"Then I guess we'll call.", she replied as she ran off, trying to put all of her anger into the fight

After a long and tedious fight, Carri teleported herself back to the church. She tried to go have a seat, but Rocky's mom wouldn't let her. "You're not welcome here.", she hissed

Carri glanced at Rocky, who said nothing. She turned and fled out of the entrance to the church. She wasn't sure what she wanted to do, so she sat down on the steps and cried. She sat there for what felt like forever when people came out and started walking by her. Carri quickly brushed her tears away and started to stand up.

"What are you still doing here?", a woman's voice said from behind her

Carri spun to see Rocky and his mother coming out of the church building. "Don't worry I was just leaving.", she hissed as she turned to walk down the stairs

"You have no sense of religion or family or even feminine responsibilities.", Mrs. DeSantos said snapping at her. "You don't deserve someone as good as my Rocky."

Carri stopped moving and turned back to her. "Don't worry about it any more I quit.", she said as she noticed the smile on Mrs. DeSantos face. "I tried for you and apparently that isn't enough. I'm white, I'm Methodist on the few and far between times that I go to church, I love my family just the way they are, and I don't believe in the traditional roles of women. I hate cleaning, I can't cook... just ask Jason about the mac and cheese incident and if he can stop laughing long enough maybe he'll tell you.", she said pausing. "The one thing I'm not is sorry. I am who I am and I'm not going to change for anyone.", she said as she could feel the sorrow disappearing from inside of her.

Now she was just angry and disappointed as she turned to address Rocky. "And you're not white, you're not Methodist, and you come from a completely different family. And you know what? I've always known that. And I've never cared because I loved you just the way you are. If you can't love me for me, then it's over and I have nothing left to say to you.", she said. With that she turned and took off down the stairs, and headed in the direction of her house. It was going to be a long walk, and after she was far enough away she would have to call and get a ride.

Rocky turned toward his mother to see the look of satisfaction on her face. He couldn't believe what had just happened here. And Carri was right. He always knew who she was, who they were together, and he still loved her. He looked at his mother. He wasn't going to let her do this to her, to them. "I'm sorry.", he said. She looked at him curiously. "I love her, and maybe she isn't everything you wanted for me but she's everything I want. And if you can't accept that then I'm sorry."

With that, Rocky flew down the steps of the church and took off running. He saw her in front of him and called out her name, but she didn't respond. Finally he caught up to her and grabbed her arm, spinning her around.

She shot him a look. "This is the part where I take off in anger."

"And this is the part where I do this.", he said as he pulled her body into his and gave her a passionate kiss. "I'm sorry.", he said as he let her back. "I let my mom get into my head and I shouldn't have. I've always loved you for you. I don't care what my mom thinks. I've known who you are from day one and that's the person I fell in love with and if my mom can't accept it then to hell with her."

"You don't really mean that.", Carri said

Rocky smiled at her. "Maybe not but you get the idea.", he said as he put his hand in hers. "You want to get out of here?"

"Sure.", she replied as she let him lead her to his car.

Rocky took off and the duo made a quick pit stop by his empty house to pick up his things before they drove off to the Hillard's household. They arrived and walked in the door to find Tommy, Jason and Kim ready to leave.

"Hey.", Carri said as she smiled at her friends

"Hey.", Kim replied smiling back. "So are you guys ok?"

"Perfectly fine.", she replied as she put her arm around Rocky's waist

Kim grinned. "Good."

Tommy looked at the duo standing in front of him. "I think we're about ready to head back up."

"Yeah I have a paper to finish before tomorrow.", Jason chimed in

"I thought you had your paper finished.", Carri pointed out

"Almost.", he said

She shrugged her shoulders and looked around. "Where's Kat?"

"She ran out. She said she wouldn't be gone long.", Kim told her

"If you guys don't mind, the three of us can take a car and head on up, while the two of you can follow behind together.", Tommy suggested. It's not like they were in a super hurry to get home, but he figured since the two of them had a bad weekend they might like some time alone together.

"That's fine by me.", Rocky said as he tossed Tommy his car keys. The three boys had all come to Angel Grove in Rocky's car since the two girls had already left together and it didn't make sense for each of the boys to drive their own car.

"You guys ready?", Jason asked as he grabbed his things

Kim picked her mess of stuff off the floor. "As ready as I'm going to be.", she replied. She looked towards her two friends. "We'll see you when you get home.", she said as she headed for the door

"See you guys later.", Carri said as both she and Rocky waved goodbye. The duo watched as their friends took off out the front door, then they curled up on the couch together.

"I'm really sorry about this weekend.", Rocky said as he looked down at his girlfriend

"It's your mom who needs to apologize. She planted those ideas in your head that I wasn't good enough for you.", Carri pointed out

"I know.", Rocky said. He paused for a moment before continuing. "I don't know what got into her. She's always liked you. It was like all of the sudden she realized we were serious and she didn't like that."

"It's ok. I know I'm not quite what your mom envisioned for you. But you're not what my mom envisioned for me either, so I guess that makes us perfect for each other.", she replied with a smile

Rocky laughed. "I guess so.", he said as he pulled her close to him. "I know we have our differences. But we also have more similarities than just the thrill of pulling one over on Rita and Zedd every once in a while."

"I like to layeth the smacketh down.", she replied grinning

"See apparently you like wrestling.", Rocky said as he looked at her a bit surprised

She laughed at him. "I'm full of surprises. I know more about wrestling than you may think."

"See there's still more about us to be discovered. Differences or not, I think we'll be fine."

"I'm too strange. If you were just like me, that would be frightening.", she replied

He grinned at her. "No it wouldn't, I'd be Kim."

Carri wasn't quite sure how to react. She cocked her head and looked up at her boyfriend, who smiled and wrapped his arms around her. They sat there like that for a moment before they heard a knock at the door. Rocky gave his girlfriend a kiss and hopped up. "I'll get it.", he said as he went over and opened it

To his surprise, there stood his mother. He frowned. He didn't want to slam the door in her face, but he wasn't sure he wanted to hear anything she had to say. "Can I come in?", she asked

Rocky said nothing but moved out of the way to let his mother in. She looked at her son and smiled. "I was hoping to catch you here before you left for LA.", she said

Rocky continued not to speak as he shut the door and went back over and sat down next to his girlfriend. His mother sat down in the chair beside the couch and looked at the two of them. "Rocky can we talk?"

"Anything you can say to me mom, you can say in front of her.", Rocky said as he put an arm around Carri and looked at his mother

"When I saw you two were getting serious, I got scared.", she said as she looked over at her son. "I was younger than you when I started to get serious with my first relationship. And then I made mistakes. I thought that being serious meant we would love each other forever. I got pregnant and married the man, your father. Only to have him leave me with seven children years later. And not that I don't love you or your brothers and sisters very much, but it ruined my life. I always wanted better for you than that. I didn't want you to get stuck raising children and I certainly don't want you to turn out like your father."

Rocky looked at his mother. He could see where some of her concerns had come from. "Mom I know what happened to you. But I'm not you. Carri and I aren't planning on starting a family now. We have goals, things we want to accomplish before that happens. And don't worry abut me turning out like dad. I'm a better man than that."

"I know you are sweety.", his mom said as she smiled at him. "I just couldn't help but think those things. Then I realized that Carri was never what I wanted for you in a wife or girlfriend anyway, so it would be easier to shoo her away based on those principles. Then you could work on your studies and create a life for yourself, then find the perfect woman."

"But what if I've already found her?"he asked as he pulled Carri a little closer

"I know you love her very much. And I'm sorry about everything I put you through.", she said as she glanced over at Carri. "I know you're not close to what I had envisioned for my son, but I can tell you two love each other and the rest shouldn't matter."

"Thank you.", Carri said as she smiled at her. It was nice to see that his mother was trying for Rocky. She would have hated to see him at odds with his mother over her. He had always had such a close relationship with his family.

Mrs. DeSantos smiled back at her son's girlfriend. "And you and I can work together. So that when you two get married and have my grandchildren we can build a strong family."

Carri forced a smile towards Rocky's mother before she shot him a look. They may have been back on track, but neither one of them were concentrating on marriage or children anytime soon. She was worried about passing college. And not getting herself killed before she could graduate. If she could accomplish that, then she and Rocky could talk about the other things.

Rocky smiled at his girlfriend. He knew exactly what she was thinking. Rocky stood up and his mother did so as well. He gave his mother a hug which she returned. "Thank you for coming by."

"Thank you for listening.", she replied as she smiled at him. "I am sorry. For everything. I wish you two the best."

Rocky then led his mother out and shut the door behind her. "So...", he said letting his voice trail off as he smiled at his girlfriend

"So...", she replied smiling back at him

"That went well don't you think?", he asked as he went and sat on the couch

She rolled her eyes and smiled. "Yeah now you got your mom thinking about grandkids.", she replied as she put her arms around his neck

"Don't worry about it.", he said with a smile. "Besides it's better than her thinking you're not good enough for me.", he pointed out as he put his arms around her waist

"True.", she replied as she leaned in for a kiss. Rocky returned her kiss as he pulled her in and got wrapped up in the moment.

"Ah-hem.", Kat said clearing her throat. Rocky and Carri backed off and turned around to see Kat standing there. "So I take it you two are on good terms?"

"As good as ever.", Carri replied

Kat smiled at the duo. "So when are you guys heading back?"

"We were waiting on you. To say goodbye.", Carri said as she hopped up and gave her cousin a hug. "It was nice to see you."

"You too.", Kat replied

"You're going to have to come visit sometime.", she told her

"You're not the only one who thinks that.", Kat said

Rocky jumped up and grabbed their bags. "Are you ready to go?", he asked his girlfriend

"As ready as I'm going to be.", she replied

"It was good to see you Kat.", he said as he smiled at her

She smiled back at him. "It was good to see you too. Just next time you guys come home, don't cause this much drama."

Rocky laughed as he headed towards the door. "Don't worry I don't intend to."

Carri smiled as she followed him out. "Goodbye Kat.", she said as she headed out with Rocky

Kat smiled and said goodbye as she shut the door behind them. She watched the two of them head arm in arm to the car, throwing their stuff in then taking off. She waited as they drove off, then she turned back to go do some work.

* * *

Late that night Kim and Carri sat in front of the television in their pajamas chatting about their weekend.

"So I'm glad everything worked out.", Kim said as she curled up on the couch

Carri nodded. "Yeah me too. It was just a strange weekend."

The girls heard a door open and turned around to see Jason walking out of his bedroom. "Alright girls," he said as he sat down in between them, "you can let me back in the loop now."

Carri smiled as Kim rolled her eyes. Jason laughed at the two of them. "What you can't blame me. Nobody told me what was going on this weekend."

"That's because you spent the entire weekend with Emily.", Carri pointed out

"That's because I have you girls to drive me crazy twenty-four seven and I needed a break.", Jason teased

"So you don't want to be in the loop unless there's drama, then you want in?", asked Kim

"Exactly.", Jason replied. "Usually it's just you two," he said pausing to take his hands and make talking motions, "about stupid stuff anyway."

Kim and Carri glanced at each other before pulling the pillows out from behind them and thumping Jason in the back of the head with them. Jason quickly wrestled the pillows away from them and gave each one of them a good hit, then jumped up and backed away.

"See he's scared of us.", Carri pointed out

"As he should be.", Kim said with a smile

"No I'm not scared of you. I'm just getting up to go to bed.", he said, smiling as he walked back towards the bedroom throwing the pillows back at the girls.

The girls caught the pillows and curled back up on the couch, watching television until the early hours in the morning. Finally they got up and went back to bed so they could get some rest, and everyone could be ready for class, putting that awful weekend behind them.

**The End**


End file.
